In a recent article, Marlen Suller of Magentus suggested that the solution to ever-increasing diagnostic waiting lists is for the NHS to make better use of existing capacity, test patients faster, give clearer information, and use financial incentives to drive improvement. This implies that diagnostic radiographers – the NHS professionals who carry out diagnostic imaging tests – are not working hard enough or would work longer hours for financial incentives.
This is, at best, a naive misrepresentation of the actual situation. In March 2026, radiographers carried out 2.07 million diagnostic imaging tests – the highest number of tests recorded in one month so far. Radiographers are conducting more tests than ever, despite the fact that the average vacancy rate for radiographers is now 15%, and some departments have much higher vacancy rates.
Radiographers already work overtime to try to meet patient demand – there are, quite simply, no hours left to work safely. Government attention has been focused on abolishing NHS England and reorganising regional integrated care boards. The alarming side-effect is recruitment freezes in NHS trusts across the country. Many imaging services are shockingly understaffed, yet trusts are not recruiting to fill vacant posts. Radiography graduates are leaving university and struggling to find jobs, despite chronic shortages in hospitals across the country.
We need a credible government workforce plan, and we are still waiting for one to materialise. Existing capacity can only be stretched so far – already, our members tell us they are burning out and leaving the NHS altogether. Without investment in more radiographers, NHS waiting lists will continue to rise inexorably, and it is the patients who suffer as a result.
